The CDA, or Community Development Authority, is in the news for wanting to be the developer for Allied Drive and some hiring and contracting issues. Technically, it is its own legal entity but it is also considered by many to be another arm of the City and has a contract with the City. We have a contract in place with the CDA. Sorting out the role it should play in Allied Drive prompted me to ask some questions, which in turn have raised many other questions:
1. Where is it’s budget? Or at least some accounting of its expenses beyond the Housing Operations unit? (See #5 below.)
2. How much staff time is spent on CDA activities, and spent not getting City work done?
3. Why isn’t the CDA charged for city staff time? (See #4 below.)
4. Shouldn’t they be following City contracting rules? Including paying the living wage? (See contract language #1 and #3 below.)
5. Where is the annual workplan? (See #7 below.)
6. Why aren’t we following the terms of the contract that we do have? (See language below.)
BACKGROUND
- The CDA was created by Madison General Ordinances in 1979.
- The CDA has independent abilities to make decisions without approval of the Common Council.
- The CDA is allowed to call upon any department, board, commission or agency of the City for assistance and cooperation in the performance of its duties and functions.
- The Director of the Department of Planning, Community and Economic Development is also the Executive Director/Secretary of the CDA (Mark Olinger).
- The CDA is supposed to pay the City for any staff time used to perform CDA services.
- The CDA is supposed to do projects for the City at their request.
CONTRACT LANGUAGE: Here’s some excerpted language.
- When architectural, engineering or management consultants are to be utilitzed on AUTHORITY projects, they must be recruited and selected in accordance with CITY, state and federal requirements and approved by the AUTHORITY.
- The CITY reserves the right and discretion to determine funding and staffing levels of City employees to be made available to the AUTHORITY pursuant to the terms of the Agreement. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as requireing the CITY to budget funds or retain employees to provide said services.
- In addition, the AUTHORITY may employ technical experts and such other officers, agents and employees, permanent and temporary, as it may require from time to time in the performance of its duties and functions within the limits of the funds available for this purpose.
- The AUTHORITY agrees to reimburse the CITY for performing services and providing the space, material, supplies and equipment to carry out the activities and operations described under this agreement. The CITY shall be reimbursed for all costs of providing said services in accordance with the following:
- C. The AUTHORITY agrees to reimburse the City for the cost of support services provided by the CITY departments as they relate to the performance of the services rendered under this Agreement, provided that all inter-agency charges are approved by the AUTHORITY or its designees prior to reimbursement of the CITY.
- D. The AUTHORITY agrees to reimburse the CITY for the actual cost of construction and modernization contracts and architectural, engineering and management consultant contracts that are entered into with the approval of the AUTHORITY, provided that disbursements are approved by the AUTHORITY or its designess prior to payment by the CITY.
- The City Comptroller shall prepare a periodic basis, a summary of expenditures made by the CITY on behalf of the AUTHROITY as provided in Article II Section C of this agreement. (Brenda’s Note: That’s the language in C above.) This reimbursement summary shall be submitted to the AUTHORITY or its designee for approval. The AUTHORITY shall reimburse the CITY on a timely basis.
- The approval by the AUTHORITY or its designee of all contract disbursements as provided in Article II, Section D (Brenda’s Note: That is the language in D above.) of this agreement shall constitute the necessary approval for the reimbursement of those costs.
- The AUTHORITY and the Mayor agree to develop an Annual Work Plan prior to the preparation of the City’s Executive Budget.
The contract was signed by Mayor Paul Soglin, Andre Blum (City Clerk), Terese Berceau (Chair of the CDA), George Austin (Secretary of the CDA) and Henry Gempler (City Attorney).
This is like the third time in the past two weeks where it has come up that the City/Mayor have ignored our laws and contracts. What’s going on here?
